


You Saved Me

by 221b_TARDISstreet



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-26
Updated: 2014-01-26
Packaged: 2018-01-10 03:42:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1154436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/221b_TARDISstreet/pseuds/221b_TARDISstreet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A simple mistake leads to the one thing that was never supposed to happen, the one thing he feared most. As Rose Tyler lies dying, The Doctor tells her just how much she means to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 45 Minutes

It was never supposed to go this way. It was supposed to be a fun visit, a short holiday on the planet Clo. It was supposed to be a nice cup of exotic tea and some socializing with the (oddly colored) inhabitants of the planet. The tea was great, but the socializing... Rose hadn't known that what was a friendly wave to her was a terrible threat to the Clovans.  
It was all his fault. He should have told her. He should have stopped the Clovans, explained that she was trying to be friendly. He should have done something, but it was too late now. Rose Tyler was dying, and it was his fault. He glared at the Clovans, but they didn't seem to care about the poison slowly working its way through her veins.  
"She didn't," he stated, his voice level, yet filled with fury and grief at the same time. "She DIDN'T BLOODY KNOW!" He yelled the last bit, which scared the aliens away. They were gone now; there was no use going after them. Instead, he sat down next to Rose on the ground. She looked up at him from where she lay, her eyes clouded with the distance the poison had put between the two of them.  
"Doctor?" Her voice was weak. She was more vulnerable than he had ever seen a human.  
"Yes, I'm here," he said quietly, not sure what else to say or do.  
"Can- can we go back to the TARDIS?" Rose asked.  
"Alright." He reached down and picked her up, one arm behind her back, the other behind her knees. She clung to him like he was life as he took careful step after step until they reached the police box. Rose looked at The Doctor. The Doctor looked at the TARDIS. They were faced with a problem: opening the door.  
"Okay... Rose, can you get the key from around my neck?" She nodded feebly and reached for the chain under his shirt. Her hands were cold as they brushed his kin, though that wasn't the cause of the shiver that it sent through him.  
When they finally made it in, The Doctor set Rose down on the floor. There wasn't time to waste getting her a bed.  
"Be honest, how long do I have?" she asked after a while.  
"Half an hour, give or take." There was a long pause as she took it in.  
"What did I do?" Rose asked.  
"They take waving as a threat. From their viewpoint, shooting you was self-defense," he answered.  
"Oh," came the quiet response.  
"I'm sorry, Rose. I am so, so sorry."  
"It wasn't your fault. It wasn't really anyone's."  
A long time passed with neither of them saying a word. Without really realizing it, The Doctor began to stroke Rose's hair, attempting to comfort her in the one situation he could do nothing about. She didn't protest, in fact she leaned into his touch.


	2. 15 Minutes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry, this one's a bit short...

"Doctor?" Rose finally broke the silence.  
"Yes?"  
"W-why is it so cold?"  
"It's an effect of the poison," The Doctor replied, pulling off his leather jacket. "Here, sit up a little. That's it." He wrapped the jacket around her. Instead of laying back down on the floor, she fell into in lap, and he held her for the warmth and comfort it would provide the dying girl.  
"Doctor?" Rose asked again.  
"Yes?"  
"Do you- do you love me?" she nearly whispered. He hadn't expected the question. He knew the answer, of course, but how could he put it into words, especially now?   
"Rose Tyler, I have loved you from the first time you saved my life, the antiplastic, back in London," he said, looking into her eyes.  
"Yeah? Well I've loved you since the moving mannequins!" she answered, smiling the best smile she could for the amount of pain it caused.  
He looked down at her, the dying girl. Because that's all she was, a girl, only nineteen. He stared into her captivating eyes and saw fear, and doubt, and worst of all, he saw less of her than of the poison. If ever they would be together, it would be now, in these precious few minutes before she was gone.  
"You saved me, you know," he told her. She looked at him and blinked in confusion.  
"How so?" He sighed and cleared his tightening throat.  
"There was a war. The Time War. War... it messes with the mind. I saw terrible things. I did terrible things. I was approaching madness when I met you, Rose. But slowly, you brought my sanity back. You made me The Doctor again. You really did save my life, Rose Tyler, and I'm more than sorry that I can't return the favor to you," he said.  
"Believe me, you more than returned the favor. I couldn't stand life on Earth, and you showed me so many beautiful things. So many beautiful...." her eyes closed.  
"No, not yet. Wake up, Rose," The Doctor begged her.


End file.
